Amaranth: Snowlight Vestige
by Ryuuzenga Rio
Summary: Beneath Araelis thrives a metropolis of perpetual daylight, where the last vestiges of a forgotten sanctuary lingers. Where the light has reigned and the people have abandoned their memories of conflict, a darkness is freezing over once again.
1. Retrace I: Break into the Night

**Amaranthine**

* * *

**Memory I**

Shattered Sand

* * *

**Retrace I**

Break into the Night

* * *

Nights of endless light.

_Goddamn government._

Or so Shizue thought as she slipped amidst the evening crowds. As much as she despised people hordes, killing couldn't be any easier in a city like this, you can have a gun with you and practically no one and nobody would give a shit. Right now Shizue's weapons were strapped cleverly to her triceps, underneath her sleeves, and none of those passerby cared actually even if she looked like some cold serial murderer.

Black shirt, black jacket, black eyepatch over left eye. And no one and nobody gave a shit.

Tonight Shizue had something else better to do than to drop by every random shop she saw though, in fact she had two things to do.

She broke silently from the overwhelming procession of people, no one paying attention to her presence, and disappeared into an alleyway. She pressed her finger to her nostrils as she walked, eyeing in distaste the green trash receptacles buried amongst black bags. How amusing. Underneath the city facade, a mountain of fermenting garbage laid waiting to be biodegraded.

Far down the passage into another Shizue made a turn left to the residences concealed behind the main streets, a row of 2-crown quarters running down the entire length of the alley. She would love to own one of these two-story rooms, without the garbage and the crowds.

Shizue could sense nearby her target, her nimble feet dancing along the exact spots on the ground where her target had walked a few hours ago. After about fifteen or so of these 2-crown quarters, she spun towards the door by her left.

2-F83.

Unsurprisingly, she knew exactly who was living behind this certain door. That person, and her target.

Shizue placed lightly her fingers upon the door, and felt the bolt mechanism securing the door unwind without a sound. She smiled. They have yet to realize her presence. They will soon enough know.

She pushed open the door silently as she had unlocked it and slipped inside. The room was precisely as she had remembered; the 90-square yard apartment bisected into a kitchen and a lounge, a 32-inch MPD screen fixed to the wall, black leather sofas lined around a glazed glass desktop, the fresh scent of polished wood.

Upstairs.

Shizue nudged open the door and gazed casually at the Sandslash and the Eevee upon the floor, each fingering poker cards. Her eyes surveyed the Eevee dressed leisurely in a dark cobalt hoodie, then came eventually to rest on the Sandslash amusingly in her mere underwear.

The Sandslash whistled in surprise and gestured at the doorway. "Hey Skye, your escort back home."

"Hi Skye." The Typhlosion waved lazily and smiled. The Eevee really wasn't expecting her, as planned.

"Shizue! What are you doing here?" The Eevee laid down her cards upon the wooden flooring and looked frantically between Shizue and the Sandslash, who shrugged apathetically. "Wait, how do you even know I'm here?"

"Good intuition I suppose. Anyways, your mom's worried about you. She wants me to bring you back if I happened to run into you." Shizue pointed back at the stairway.

"Aww, just a little longer please? I'm still playing cards with Shiza."

"Nope." Shizue indicated again the stairway. "Not when I'm here."

"Spoilsport." Skye glowered at Shizue and brushed cleanly her hind legs as she rose.

"You need me to accompany you?"

Skye sauntered wordlessly out the room, taking care to jerk hard her bushy tail against Shizue's leg as she passed and the Sandslash whistled again. Shizue waited till she had heard the reassuring slam of the door, then glared demandingly at Shiza.

"Strip poker?"

The Sandslash looked horrified. "Are you demented? Skye's only sixteen!"

Shizue's expression softened, but insignificantly so. "Poker."

"Yeah. Is there anything wrong with it?" Shiza uttered matter-of-factly.

"Poker."

"Come on, the money I'm winning from this is much more than the shit they pay me for my missions. You know it too."

Shizue laughed weakly and scowled at Shiza. "Don't make me hurt you. I'm already a Segundo and I still get assigned missions like what, apprehend a goddamned serial rapist? I'm not a freaking Cuarto like you and you still want to bitch about -"

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll do my jobs, and you can do yours. Peace?"

"Sorry about that."

Shizue and Shiza stared in silence at the floor, both unsure of whom to speak first. _Damn it Shiza, talk._

Shizue looked into the window beside the bed, outside the apartment, the faintly glowing lights of the distant shops, and her translucent image reflected onto the surface. Her fur was creamy white, her right eye an alert scarlet, but she looked ragged, tired of life. She stared at the eyepatch over her left eye, wondering how her eye would look like after nearly ten years of wearing the goddamned thing. The eyepatch was like a seal, to bury forever those memories of that peaceful summer day nine years ago, but it did barely anything to stop the nightmares.

"Hey, you wanna have dinner with me later tonight?" _Damn. Why did I speak first?_

"Okay, thanks." Shiza replied, not hearing what Shizue had actually said.

"Seven then."

Shizue turned around and moved back down the stairs, still massaging her forehead anticipating her mission. She thought often that she had taken a wrong path down her career, but it was times when she imagined herself stuck with a desktop piled with endless files and paperwork that she began to appreciated her profession. She smiled.

Indeed, it was a pain.

*****

Skye strolled down a row of single-crown quarters further down the shopping district, not a single person in sight, all of them busy probably with their late-night shopping. She had no intentions to return home in fact, she was going to another one of her friends' apartment.

Skye could always move out to an apartment of her own, away from her family's constant worry, but she didn't have the money.

She glanced as the numbers slowly passed by her peripheral vision, she had walked past about twenty apartments before she turned into another alley by her left. She had no idea how she had managed to live in this city of labyrinths for the past fifteen years, but she supposed the memory of the routes had somehow stuck in her cerebellum. _Rather, the government seriously needs to attend city management._

Out of the alley and into another passageway, was another row down the maze of these single-crown quarters. She turned right and continued, allowing merely her memories to guide her footsteps to her destination. Skye could envision clearly her friend sunken in her sofa with a large box of popcorn and watching horror movies on her 16-inch desktop, and she found herself wandering further down the passageway engaged still in her imaginations.

Skye paused short when she saw that the door on the apartment to her left said 1-K39. She must have made a wrong turn somewhere on the way from Shiza's apartment. Not that she really cared however, she wanted just to stay away from her home and her parents for as long as she could.

"Hi."

Skye jerked violently around, to find a Vulpix staring straight at her, her half-closed eyes glowing a dull amber under the artificial moonlight. She donned a brown biker jacket that stuck tight to her body, her massive tails swaying surgically from left to right, rhythmically, and Skye could swear that the she wanted to have sex with her.

_Where did she come from?_

"Are you lost?" Her voice was deadly sweet, sickeningly sweet. Why her smile could be worse Skye didn't know.

"No, definitely not." Skye felt somehow a humming sense of satisfaction after denying her situation square in the Vulpix's face.

"Oh. Alright." The Vulpix cocked her head innocently to her left, like in wonder. "You know, you look kind of cute."

Skye shivered, she could feel her body's instincts kicking in; she was backing slowly away from the Vulpix the way one should move away from an angry Ursaring. _Is she really as sick as she looks?_ "Okay … thanks."

"Are you scared?"

Skye stopped. The next thing she knew her chin was hurting like hell and the Vulpix had somehow gotten on top of her, rubbing down hard her crotch onto Skye's underside, liquids soaking onto her belly. Skye squirmed to free her forelegs from the Vulpix's vice grip; she herself was starting to get aroused from the Vulpix's enormous scent.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Oh, nothing much. You know I just want you."

Skye whimpered softly when she felt the Vulpix's tongue drag down her neck, it served only to arouse even more her sex.

"ARE - YOU - FUCKING - LESBIAN?"

"Hush now, you know you'll enjoy this."

"Damn it, I can't believe this little douche's actually a slut."

A Typhlosion stood over Skye, picking up the Vulpix by her scruff as her liquids continued dripping down onto her belly. Skye stared in disbelief at Shizue, then felt her face flush when she realized the situation that she was in.

"You were stalking me?"

"Nope. I was stalking this little slut here."

"Let me go!" The Vulpix blushed and flailed her forepaws.

"No chance you -"

Before Shizue could complete her sentence however, the Vulpix had pulled back her head, then roared as her maw erupted immense flames, torching entirely Shizue's face. Shizue leaned reflexively over to her right before even the Vulpix had attacked, and pinned her to the ground by her back. The Vulpix whimpered as she was slammed into the ground, flushing in discomfort.

"Looks like you can put some spine into it if you actually want to." Shizue chuckled as the Vulpix squirmed underneath her pressure. "But I'd suggest you save some for the brigs."

*****

"Interesting girl, isn't she?"

The Froslass licked her lips as she watched the Typhlosion dodge completely the Vulpix's flamethrower and restrain her upon the floor. Underneath her the Weavile cackled in entire amusement. The Froslass shifted her weight over to the center of the Weavile's forehead, closing thoughtfully her bloody amber eyes.

"What do you say, Tetsumon?"

"I want to kill her! Cut her up! Slaughter her! Make her scream!"

The Weavile threw her head backwards and roared in insane laughter. The Froslass leapt casually off Tetsumon's head as she laughed and smiled to herself. The Typhlosion would be an immense nuisance to their project, but she liked her; she would allow her to live until she saw the need to remove her. After all the Typhlosion still had her uses.

"Rain! Can I kill her? Can I?"

"No, we'll leave her alone for now. First, we pay the coppers a little visit."


	2. Retrace II: Frozen Precipice

**Amaranthine**

**

* * *

  
**

**Memory I**

**Shattered Sand**

**

* * *

  
**

**Retrace II**

**Frozen Precipice**

* * *

Shizue gazed from beneath the shadow her hood offered, before her a few people hurried by, stealing glances at the two figures lingering outside the Conel Detention. She whistled for a bit and slipped her paw down into her left sleeve, running her finger down the reassuring smooth surface of her blades' sheaths. Lives were so fragile, how easy it would be to end them, just like that.

"Shizue?"

Shizue let her paw slide from her sleeve as she turned to look at Skye. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me back there."

"No problem."

Shizue bent down to pat lightly the Eevee on her head, smiling gently as she did, then joined the filtered procession as they hastened down the street, all decided on heading for home.

*****

Fray hated being a Private, he should have never joined Roost in the first place.

Roost was the personal militia of Terrano, an entirely voluntary military force established to repress any rebels or terrorist activities, which General also happened to be the highest government of Terrano itself. In the field Akierra Zabuto was a terrifying force to be reckoned with, as a president she was deadly influential, and she was probably the principal reason why Fray had enlisted initially. Fray admired her in secret, but he had figured long ago that he had no chance at all.

Though he had for nearly a year been in the force, he remained the lowest rank of private, and that meant sometimes taking up the worst jobs like guarding a detention center. And when that happened, he thought that his only friend was his laptop.

Just a few hours ago he had locked up a Vulpix in one of the cubicles. He had been shocked genuinely when a Typhlosion had entered suddenly with the Vulpix claiming that she was the rumored serial rapist, and had been shocked even more when the Colonel had affirmed the Typhlosion's authority to detain her. If anything, the Colonel was keeping things from him.

Fray sighed as he paced by the vacant cubicles, adjusting his uncomfortably stiff Roost uniform jacket. The Vulpix was banging on the door, her dulled voice resounding from behind it. He couldn't wait for the transporters to collect the crazy little thing, then he would once again be alone with his laptop and his friends over the Internet.

He frowned and looked into the cubicle, completely unprepared for what he saw.

_Who the hell?_

Fray fumbled with the electronic combination lock and flung open the door, to be rewarded with a full view of a completely naked Eevee trembling in the doorway, the same Eevee he had seen earlier outside with the Typhlosion.

"What the heck are you doing inside? Where the heck's the Vulpix?" Fray took a step towards her.

The Eevee was suddenly onto him, stripping manically the navy jacket from the dumbstruck Luxio.

"WHAT DO YOU -?"

Fray paused, eyes thrown wide in surprise when the Eevee pressed her maw to his, her coarse tongue shoving against his lips. In that instant his mind overloaded with all manners of thoughts, emotions of fear and dirty ideas, he was too afraid to react and yet at the same time he wanted bad this Eevee. Something must have finally gotten through to him, because he had split his lips, even if slightly, and the next moment the Eevee had slipped her tongue in.

Fray's primal instincts had overridden his senses; though his conscience was screaming for him to pull away, he found himself returning almost as passionately the Eevee the kiss. Her scent was maddening, it was strong as though she was actually in heat; how it could be he wasn't in the mental state to think even about what he was doing. When the Eevee had finally broken their kiss, Fray was breathing heavily, and as was she.

She smiled and crouched dangerously close to his ear.

"My name's Gren. Remember it."

*****

Shizue paced silently down Hacren First Street, nobody but her roaming the streets on this particular night. She doubted that Shiza would eventually join her for dinner, but she found herself reciting her recipes as she neared her apartment down Hacren Second Street. As she muttered to herself she gazed skywards, the stars that drifted in the artificial night sky remaining as realistic as ever.

"That's not the Storm Assassin that I know." Shizue stated aloud into the seemingly vacant lot.

Behind her a Blaziken in an attire much similar to hers appeared, smiling to herself. She let loose her black jacket, revealing underneath a shirt and slacks of matching color, and stuck carelessly her claws into her side pockets.

"Alert as always, Shizue."

Shizue snorted in amusement. "I didn't become a Segundo for nothing. And I want my payment now, Glacie."

The Blaziken yawned, then extracted a green card from inside of her jacket and reached out her claw to Shizue. "Five hundred Centoll in full."

"Cheap as you are." Shizue smiled and received gladly the credit key from Glacie's claw.

"Demanding as you are." Glacie laughed and brushed her blonde hair, her lustrous mane swaying in the moonlight. "I'm not going to bug you today, I'm feeling dead tired after my assignment. So, bye."

Shizue examined for a moment the credit key in her paws, then slipped it into her jacket's inner pocket.

She continued a little further down, then stopped before an apartment, 1-H29 printed in clean white onto the door. She inserted an orange card into the slot above the number pad, then punched in a six-digit combination, which in turn unlocked the door as the bolt mechanism beeped in affirmation. Shizue pushed open the door, surveying her room as she remembered it.

The windowless apartment was divided into a kitchen and a bedroom, which entrance stood at the far end of the room. A set of cupboards, stoves, sinks and an oven positioned to the left of the room, and the other side a round glass table encircled with chairs and a mini MPD screen affixed onto the center of the wall.

Shizue stepped onto the wooden flooring.

Within a split second she had released her blade from her right sleeve and slashed diagonally up at the Sceptile immediately behind the wall, who deflected incredibly the strike with his leaf-blades. He shoved the heavy blade away before Shizue could draw her second and retreated to the other end of the room, scrutinizing her movements with his ocean blue eyes. Shizue scowled and slipped her second raven blade from its sheath, pulling her arms before her chest.

"As expected of the Endless Assassin." The Sceptile smiled, edging sideways towards the door to Shizue's bedroom.

"You know me." Shizue growled, revealing her keen fangs. "And executing such a perfected Leaf Blade in less than a second, who the heck are you? What are you doing here? No, how did you get in here?"

"Seeing as I was the one who broke into your room, I'll answer your questions this time." The Sceptile brushed his claw over the smooth surface of the door. "First of all, my name's Yao Lin. You asked me how I got in? I just hacked into your number lock. And what am I doing here?"

He laughed softly. "I want you to answer my questions."

The second that the Sceptile had spoken his last word Shizue switched to the offensive; she aimed a blade at the Sceptile's right arm and ran at him, propelling her body forward with her left foot as the trigger. As the Sceptile had deflected with his leaf-blades the projectile, Shizue swerved sharply left, slashing in a flash of black her other blade right across the Sceptile's defense, then in the same instant as she did, caught in midair the blade that he had deflected and brought it past his face.

The Sceptile cocked his head left to evade the blow and smiled, but his grin changed instantly into an expression of sheer surprise as a shallow incision appeared on his right cheek.

He let his knees collapse as Shizue swung her blade down, sliding from underneath her arm into the corner of the room. He laughed weakly, pushing himself from the ground.

"What the hell was that?"

"My Ryuuzekidou." Shizue raised surgically her blade up to her eye level, staring daggers at the Sceptile. "Is crafted with the highest purity of meteorite core, thereafter the blade is welded around it with the lightest compound of tantalum hafnium carbide. By channeling heat into the material I can form an aura of immense heat around the blade similar to a linked aura, like an extension of its edge. And because my Ryuuzekidou is crafted with meteorite rock and tantalum hafnium carbide I can heat this thing up all the way past four thousand degrees Celsius and it still won't melt."

The Sceptile looked genuinely surprised.

"Caught your mouth there? Yao?"

"My name's Lin."

The Sceptile concentrated his energy into his right claw, a dark violet aura enveloping it as he charged a Dragon Claw, slamming it in a burst of energy into Shizue's blade and pushing her backwards. Shizue pulled back her free arm and gripped her blade's hilt tightly, smiling to him.

"You fight quite well for a Sceptile, Lin."

"Thanks."

Shizue stabbed swiftly at Lin's face with her right blade, a golden red flare burning around its raven surface. When Lin had caught her paw with his other claw, Shizue pulled her left blade away from his grasp and pressed her body low onto the ground, spinning as she did and kicked his legs from down below him. Shizue swung her left arm around and caught his neck, then slammed him hard onto the wooden ground and pinned securely down his limbs.

"Got you. Now you -"

Suddenly Shizue's vision blurred like the colors on a buzzing screen, and for a moment her mind had stopped thinking completely and her bodily instincts had shut down on her. Lin had kissed her, on her lips, and even though she knew exactly what had transpired she didn't know what to think. Never in her life had she kissed anyone, let alone a stranger.

She backed away from Lin, when he took the sudden opening to throw her into the corner of the room and force her paws against the wall, and she loosened her grip on her blades, dropping them onto the floor, whimpering. She looked up and right into Lin's blue eyes, feeling her face flush, and shied away from his gaze. She didn't understand the emotions she was feeling, nor the sudden burning sensation deep in her chest, but she did know that she didn't like it.

Lin grinned to himself. "I figured that would work on someone like you."

*****

A Luxio stepped into the faint moonlight outside the Conel Detention, pulling tightly over her body a slightly oversized navy jacket. Before her a Froslass and a Weavile materialized from the shadows thrown onto the alleys, and she was unable to conceal her smile as they neared.

"Hi guys."

"Gren!"

The Weavile ran towards the Luxio, dark maroon cloak fluttering after her, and embraced her passionately. Rain threw her turquoise scarf over her arms and drifted over to Gren's side.

"I should've figured you would escape without our help."

"Of course. You just need to ask them nicely and they'll let you out."

"How astute." Rain smiled and folded her arms. "How many people did you rape to get yourself landed in jail?"

"I can't remember." Gren seemed to ponder, tipping innocently her head, then smiled deviously as she licked her lips. "But I have to say, the last one was quite eager."


	3. Retrace III: Satan from heaven

**Amaranthine**

**

* * *

  
**

**Memory I**

**Shattered Sand**

**

* * *

  
**

**Retrace III**

**Satan from Heaven**

* * *

The Croconaw inspected briefly the City Map in her claws, then folded roughly the material and slipped it into her backpack. Slackening her coffee-brown anorak, she gazed at the evening blue clouds drifting slowly in the crimson sky, watching her misty breath wafting into the air. How long hadn't she inhaled air as fresh as this, she wondered.

"So this is Leore."

"Desirea! Don't just stone there, I wanna get out of this snow before I freeze to death."

"Hey … wait! Aaron!" The Croconaw hurried after the Garchomp, clouds of snow rising around her feet as she ran.

The town had a welcoming Christmas atmosphere to it unlike the everlasting gloom of the underground metropolis of Terrano; the lodges had Christmas lights hung over their entrances, the faint music of organs resonated in the air, brightly decorated Yache trees scattered along the roads.

Aaron had reserved a chalet further from the town square, just along the Leore forests, and they made their way down the evenly spread row of cabins. As they passed one by one the street lanterns lined between the cabins, Aaron stopped at the second last cabin down the row, walking up its wooden steps. The cabin was built primarily with sawlogs; the relatively compact porch offered a square table, and a chimney extended from the left side of the roof. Nowadays no one used any longer cinder vents, and Desirea felt a strange but pleasant attachment to this classic styled chalet.

She liked even more the interior layout; the walls had the fresh feel of polished woods, even the bedstand and the closet had been carved from wood. Aaron stepped into the room without a moment's hesitation, throwing casually his backpack onto the desk and slumped into the cushioned chair.

"Go shower first, Desirea."

"Oh. Oh yeah."

Desirea set down beside the closet her backpack and anorak and looked inside its carved doors, then selected from their respective hangers a towel and a bath robe and locked herself inside the bathroom.

She took a moment to admire the unexpectedly clean bathroom, then stripped from her body her shirt and baggies and inspected her female form in the mirror.

Nearing the mature age of eighteen, she was an evolving Croconaw; she had noticed particularly how her snout and claws had grown sharper throughout the past few months, and how she was now a full foot and a half taller than the average Croconaw. Desirea prodded the developing scales on her arm, wondering if she would look any slimmer than she had been before, but then the primary reason she had been paying so much attention to her developing body was Aaron. She loved everything about the Garchomp, only a mere two years older than she was, his appearance, his strength, and his unusual kindness.

She had been so pleased when she had been assigned a mission together with Aaron, and although she had remembered all the dangers Glacie had warned her about falling in love, she didn't want to bother. In fact, the only complication now was Aaron's side of things.

She was probably just another Croconaw in his eyes, there was no way he would even like someone as ordinary as her, apart from the fact that they were both Roost-approved assassins.

Desirea sighed in faint disgruntlement and stepped into the shower. She turned on the showerhead and adjusted higher the temperature, letting the water sprinkle onto her bare scales.

*****

Shiza stared at her wristwatch, for some time her mind was too confused to register the digits, and rapped lightly upon the metal door, hollow knocks echoing down the alley. She glanced nervously down Hacren Second Street, for some reason she had felt a strange aura ever since she had neared Shizue's apartment, but she noticed no one.

The door opened and Shiza was greeted instantly with the Typhlosion's smiling face and the fresh smell of curry.

"You remembered."

"I wonder so myself."

Shiza slipped past Shizue, examining the overly tidy kitchen; it had remained the same neat little apartment since the last time she had visited. The only different thing that Shiza noticed was the Sceptile eating at the dinner table.

Shiza leaned in close to Shizue, eyeing the Sceptile who had glanced back at her. "Who is that?"

"Someone I'm gonna torment till he dies." The Sceptile spluttered when he heard her.

"What did he do?" Shiza followed Shizue into the kitchen, where she picked up a plate of rice.

"He broke into my house." Shizue stated aloud, referring immediately to the Sceptile, as she scooped from the pot a spoonful of curry and poured it generously onto the plate of rice.

"Then why is he … wait … do you even know this guy?"

"Let's say … no! That's why I said he broke into my house." Shizue placed the plate on the glass table surface, offering a sharp ting, and took her seat opposite the Sceptile. "Feel free to take more." Shizue indicated the plate, talking to Shiza.

Shiza climbed onto the chair next to the Sceptile, picked up a spoon and dipped it into the rice. "You mean you let him?"

"He beat me."

"YOU LOST?"

"Yes."

"How?" Shiza dropped her spoon back onto the table, alert completely now; this was the first time she had heard that Shizue had been defeated in a physical combat. Shizue hated the things that Shiza's eyes were conveying to her.

Shizue buried tiredly her face into her paws and muttered so lowly Shiza couldn't hear what she had said.

"What? I didn't catch that, sorry."

"He kissed me."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?"

"Shut up!"

"Sorry."

Shizue and the Sceptile looked up at the same time after Shiza had spoken, catching each other's eyes, and Shizue looked away instantly, her face flushing a deep scarlet. Shiza whistled when she saw Shizue shy away, laughing to herself.

"You're so cute, Shizue."

"Go die."

"Sorry."

*****

Desirea blinked confusedly her eyes and gazed tiredly to her front, then nearly jumped from the bed; she had spent the entire night in the same bed with Aaron and she hadn't realized it. She turned away from Aaron and pulled the bedspread over her blushing face.

_Was I that tired yesterday? How could I have slept with him without even knowing it? Oh no, I think it's morning already._ Desirea peeked out from underneath the bedspread, gazing at the patch of light pouring onto Aaron's form through the drawn windows. _Damn, I slept next to him the whole night … oh wait, isn't this good? He looks so hot even when he's sleeping …_

"Damn, just thinking about him like this …"

Desirea felt her chest burn with a familiar intensity as she dragged her claw down her belly, and lowered it down slowly, murring softly.

"Are you awake?"

"Huh … yeah?" Desirea retraced immediately her claws to her side, her heart pounding wildly. _Oh no, how long was he awake?_

The Garchomp slipped out of bed and drew on his anorak. "I was afraid I would wake you up."

"Oh. Sorry." Desirea flushed and snatched her jacket from the floor.

Desirea thought Leore appeared by far more welcoming in the night; the townspeople had switched off the Christmas lightings in the morning, and the streets were now speckled with people rushing off to their businesses. She felt like another one of them, proceeding to their workplaces to be buried in a mountain of paperwork, just without the mountain of paperwork.'

Aaron arrived before a butchery, the large sign that hung above the store depicted the words in capital MEAT, and a beaming cartoon Swinub licking his lips and showing a thumbs up gesture.

He strolled into the backstreet to the right of the butchery, Desirea following close after, then extracted from his pocket a folded sheet of paper and studied for a moment the descriptions printed onto its surface. He slid it back into his pocket after half a minute or so and continued into the maze of passages.

Straight down the backstreet till the very end, a rusted gate stood guardian of an arced doorway, a dented sign chained onto its front, the words DO NOT ENTER that had been painted on had begun to peel off. Aaron didn't have to confirm his navigation to know that this was the locale; he could sense an individual and enormous aura from inside the shaft. Whomever this aura was coming from, was immensely strong.

"Let's go. Stay alert now."

"Okay."

Desirea drew from her belt a Japanese Kunai, a short coal-black dagger with a small ring at the end of the shaft to hold easily with a finger, and hooked a claw through the ring. Aaron pulled the hood over his head and nudged the askew gate aside, which hinges fell apart suddenly and collapsed onto the floor with a sharp clang.

"Oops. Maybe I should try that again." Aaron laughed awkwardly.

He entered first into the shaft, adjusting his knife pouches to the sides of his belt. Desirea strode over a fallen stone pillar and after the Garchomp, merely glancing at her immediate surroundings, to comprehend the environment she might have to fight in.

Large metal pipes extended deep into the shaft, nailed into the walls at various intervals, metal columns supported the cracked walls from caving in, and planks of splintering wood wrapped in soiled fabric laid along the tiled path. Hollows were drilled into the wall, so that the entire walkway was more or less illuminated throughout. Desirea could fathom why this area had been named the Devil's Nest; it looked like an insane fusion between an abandoned construction site and a biotechnological research facility.

Both Aaron and Desirea didn't need any blueprint or whatsoever to navigate in a labyrinth like this; to them their target was like a giant blinking red dot on a GPS.

"Desirea?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let your guard down. To possess an aura this huge that I could even sense it out there … avoid engaging with him if possible, remember we're just here for the target."

"Roger that."

Every step that Desirea walked, the immense aura grew more distinct, even if just by a little, and she found herself praying whomever this aura belonged to wasn't their target.

"Aaron?"

"Anything wrong?"

"No … I was just wondering, why would someone even stay in here? And why would someone want this Rhydon dead?"

"No idea. If you ask me, the mission outline was too ambiguous."

"I know."

The shaft had extended finally into a large squared chamber, a mass of pipes, steel supports, and cinder blocks scattered in the approximately 5000 square yard area, and in the dead center of it, stood a cinder throne, from it hung the arm of a Rhydon clothed in a dark fabric, swinging gently as the creature breathed.

Desirea peered down from the shaft 60 feet from the ground of the chamber, flinching as the macabre aura hit her. When she had opened her eyes again, the walls around her had dissolved into a pure void of darkness, and no matter where she looked, it was a frigid darkness, like an invisible fire that licked at her senses.

"Aaron?"

She couldn't move, her feet were still planted to the ground, her body forced to an invisible surface behind so she couldn't turn her head back to ensure if Aaron was even still there. The vacuity around her was a slow spiral of raven and violet, cold and soundless, not even the faint buzzing in her ears she would hear when there were no sounds.

_Can I even breathe here?_

She felt her lungs deflating incredibly, the way a balloon does when it has its blowhole released, and she could almost see her chest collapsing against her ribcage, her bones pressing into her scales. Her eyes were watering, she wanted so bad to scream, but her throat wouldn't make even a sound, not to shatter even the silence that eroded slowly her very sanity.

"Desirea!"

Desirea's knees hit the ground, breathing heavily and sweating the way one does in a sauna as she clawed in a frenzy her chest.

"That … was the worst … aura assault ever …"

"Stay with me, Desirea!" Aaron grabbed her shoulders and stared into her strained eyes.

"Aaron …" Desirea was laughing feebly as she picked up herself. "We have to fight that thing? That thing's our target?"

"Who's your target?"

Desirea wheeled around, before her was a flurry of sable cloth as the Rhydon stepped from the vertical wall and into the shaft, her amber eyes burning savagely into hers. She had barely time to consider the physical possibilities as she reacted instantly as her instincts told her to.

"Desirea!"

The Rhydon slammed in a burst of crimson red Desirea back into the open cavity, her dark overcoat fluttering like a fallen raven as she plummeted backwards 60 feet into the concrete ground of the chamber.


	4. Retrace IV: Death and Grim

**Amaranthine**

* * *

**Memory I**

**Shattered Sand**

* * *

**Retrace IV**

**Death and Grim**

* * *

Rai Saleer listened to the rhythmic resonance of her deep respiration, the faint swoosh of her arm as it hung from the seat, and the whispering between the Garchomp and the Croconaw as it echoed into the hollowed chamber. They were cautious, but insufficiently so.

She would try to contain her aura as it discharged from her body, to diminish the constant flow of her exterior energies so the intruders wouldn't sense it. She wanted to savior every delicious second of the moment she could.

Then the Croconaw had stopped completely, even breathing no longer; Rai had carelessly allowed her aura to assault the Croconaw's mental activities, paralyzing her physical movements. If she didn't break away soon from her aura, she would die of a psychological breakdown. Soon enough, the Garchomp's voice came slightly louder than a whisper.

Rai sighed and rose from her seat; being too strong had its disadvantages as well. It was time to act.

*****

"Bye, Shizue. Come visit me sometime when you're actually not on a mission."

Shiza stepped through the open door that Shizue was propping, and waved lazily back at her.

"If you stop slacking off maybe I'll actually get some free time."

"Make sure you get some action done tonight."

"Seriously, shut up!"

Shizue slammed the door square in Shiza's face, her laughing voice still audible behind the layer of wood as she leaned against the door and panted deeply to herself. She swore as she eyed Lin gazing curiously at her condition, then took her seat opposite the Sceptile and laid calmly her crossed arms onto the table. "There. We're alone now."

"She's a nice girl. Anyways, thanks for the curry."

"Shameless bastard."

"I'll take that as a compliment." The Sceptile chuckled and scratched his scalp. "Moving on -"

"Before I answer your questions, I want to know how much more you do know about me."

Lin appeared somewhat surprised by her request as he stared into her right and only eye, bright scarlet. He could almost see his own reflection burning in those cold flames of that eye.

"Alright, fine. Nothing you won't know about anyways. Now … Umezaki Shizue, born on the twenty-third of July, 408 SE. Being the only child of your parents, you grew up with your Lucario mother and Typhlosion father in a cottage along Terra Del Fiore, Cielra. Past your seventh birthday and already an evolved Quilava, on the twelfth of January nearly nine years ago, 416 SE, an unknown broke into your house and murdered your mother. Your father on the other hand disappeared without a trace, and it is still uncertain whether he is alive or dead."

Shizue exhaled her repressed breath; Lin really wasn't here for her left eye, but felt at the same time a familiar anger rush. "So you're just some last-decade journalist trying to make me talk about my mysterious childhood? If that's so, you can beat it."

Lin pretended not to hear.

"Shortly after the funeral of your mother, you moved to Terrano and shared an apartment with your Sandslash childhood friend, Matsumori Shiza, whose Nidorina mother had divorced, and was living together with her Sandslash father. Then one year ago, on the second of December, 425 SE, shortly after you had fully evolved into a Typhlosion, both you and Shiza moved to your respective apartments. The same night that you had relocated to Hacren Second Street, you were issued an invitation into Cero, the order of assassins, without the usual acceptance trial one would need to go through to enter."

Shizue was unsettled completely; Lin had information only a few should know, and he had memorized it all like some welcome speech. "Wait, how did you find out about the assassins? It's supposed to be a secret!"

"Obviously this little hit man club is not as secret as you think." Lin smiled and continued. "You started off as a Noveno, the lowest rank of Cero, and within less than a year, had incredibly risen all the way up to become a Segundo, the third highest rank of Cero, and was bestowed a special codename, which acts as your secondary ID during official missions. So what do you say, Endless? It would be quite safe to say that your abilities are first-rate, to have done what some could only accomplish after years."

Shizue remained silent, her lips pursed as she stared back at Lin.

"And that more or less sums up what I do and do not know about you, plus or take a few minor details, like you have accepted missions directly from Roost higher-ups, specifically Colonel Umbra."

"And what do I know, that you want to know?"

"I want to know, how, to achieve immortality."

Shizue gaped at Lin, obviously surprised. "Excuse me? Immortality?"

"Yes, immortality." Lin seemed unfazed at Shizue's skepticism.

"What does being a professional assassin, have to do with a kid's fairytale?"

"I'm quite sure you're fully aware of Cero's history."

"Quite."

"Well, during the Salvation War, Terrano was built to function as one of the main sanctuaries, bases, etcetera for the Covenant, which was at that point of time codenamed Checkpoint NightSky. Did you know that?"

"Obviously. But what does -"

"Cero had been founded around the time Checkpoint NightSky had been constructed, as an individual resistance against Aizora's forces and also against terrorist activities in Checkpoint NightSky. At that time Cero was just known as the guild."

"Yeah, but what -"

"Gabbes Kurame, the Crystal Assassin."

"What?"

"Mearhakku Yumeshi, the Crimson Assassin. Riolacruz Kiryuu, the Amber Assassin. Do these names make any sense to you?"

"Yes, but why …"

"Gabbes Kurame, the assassin of resurrection. Mearhakku Yumeshi, the assassin of regeneration. Riolacruz Kiryuu, the assassin of recovery."

"Assassin of what?"

"You didn't know? They were the Salvation War heroes and -"

"Look, just because they happen to be from the same guild, doesn't mean I have to know their secrets. Besides, that was more than three centuries ago, there's no way any one of them can still be alive."

"You're missing the point here. What I want is for you to gather intelligence from Cero and Roost."

Shizue gripped the smooth surface of the table and roared, Lin flinching in surprise. "The order I can understand! But Roost? Are you so freaking naive you actually think any one of them will just sell me their secrets because I ask them to?"

Lin eyed Shizue through half-closed eyes, smiling to himself.

_I know someone who would._

*****

"DESIREA!"

Rai gazed back amusingly down as the Croconaw plunged into the chamber floor; in her left claw gripped tightly a Japanese Kunai, the same Kunai that she had survived with when she had parried Rai's last attack. _But she wouldn't survive the fall._

She flicked lazily upwards her claw, catching deftly in between her digits the projectile that had been thrown at her. The projectile was a bladed disc approximately the size of her palm, roughly triangular in shape with a hole in the center of the metal and three smaller holes in each of its vertices, also known as a Screw Blade.

The Garchomp growled softly at his failed effort and drew two Kunais from his knife pouches, hooking his individual claws through their rings. His eyes were furious, demented, and Rai loved them.

"Oh ho, I like those eyes. Who are you?" The Garchomp remained silent. "Judging by your attire and your choice of weapons, I'd say you're an assassin, but what's your name?"

"I have no need to answer your questions, I have only one true identity."

Rai licked her parched lips and stepped briskly forwards, feeling the cool wind rush against her back.

"And that is your enemy."

The Garchomp propelled both arms forward, launching straight the blades towards Rai's either sides; she swerved sharply right, then left, both blades missing her weak spots as she took the offensive, charging in her right claw a Stone Edge. The Garchomp pitched himself backwards and away from Rai's incoming strike, smiling as he gestured with a horizontal slash across his neck.

"Watch your neck."

"What?"

Suddenly as Rai neared the Garchomp, she halted with her claw reaching inches from his chest, feeling a delicate force slicing into her throat, like a miniscule blade that cut slowly into her rock-tough skin. Her eyes widened in realization and she vaulted rapidly backwards and back into the chamber behind her, landing 60 feet into the deep snow down below.

_Snow?_

"I see."

Rai rose carefully, the mashed snow pouring from her dark coat, and glared savagely at the Croconaw behind her. The Croconaw was panting and in some degree of pain, the scarlet fins along her spine crushed askew, in both her claws gripped each a Kunai.

"You used Blizzard to create snow to cushion the impact of your fall, then froze your open wounds at the same time to temporarily aid in your healing. Due to the sudden contrast in air pressure created by a drop in the surrounding temperature, the Garchomp noticed the flow of the cool wind and understood that you had survived. Then he attacked me with the Kunais to disguise the fact that he had attached steel fibers to them, and when you caught them, all you had to do was to pull on them to drag me down along. Am I right?"

"Who gives a damn if you're that smart? Just die and help me will you?"

Rai sighed and scratched her neck, feeling the faint incision in her skin.

"I wasn't about to go serious on you guys, but it looks like I'll really die now if I don't."

When she had looked up once more, her eyes seemed to sparkle an amber gold.

"Try not to die too fast, okay?"

*****

Akierra slipped her claws into her coat pockets, watching fascinated as the condensed vapor from her breath drifted away into the air and dissolved before the enormous cave, well enough for an entire Wailord to fit snugly inside. Situated in the snowbound Nymphcabar Mountains furthest east of Araelis, the Hebrot Prison was known to be the most secure place in the whole of Araelis. Most didn't know even its existence in fact.

The gate guards in their thick white winter uniform seemed surprised, frightened even, that the head of Roost herself had decided to pay a visit to the most deserted place in Araelis, as they saluted with a swipe of their palms to their foreheads. Akierra waved them down and smiled to herself; some people had a misconception the head of Roost was a Nidoking.

The 50 feet gates were pure white, constructed from a part of the Nymphcabar Mountains itself, at least 20 tons and can be opened only from the inside. It was perfectly camouflaged from the outside world. Akierra thought to herself as a monitor from the interior confirmed her identity and opened the usual entrance; an 8 feet door concealed beside the gates. One of the gate guards, a Weavile, offered to guide her, which she declined. She was well familiar with the layout and personally acquainted with every single prisoner detained in the Hebrot Prison; there was only one.

She descended at the stairways furthest end of the exaggeratingly long hall till the seventh floor underground, a prison guard saluting as she passed every 30 feet or so. She noticed the stone doors sealing every section; behind each was really accommodations comparable to the most expensive homes in Araelis. No doubt people would give anything to live in this certain prison.

The seventh floor was an exception in a way; the walls were carved from meteorite rock, including the door that concealed the only prisoner behind, and had no guards. Akierra sighed, pacing down the passageway.

"Long time no see, Sherrie." She worried that its occupant would not hear through the layers of thick stone and metal, but there was surely enough an answer.

"Long time, Akierra." The voice was female.

"We'll need you back soon. It won't be long before the dragon awakens."

"Rai's gone?"

Akierra smiled; Sherrie seemed always to know everything. "So? Will you take up the name of the Black Flame again?"

There was silence for a moment, then she gave her reply.

"Are you going to release me, or do I have to burn this place to the ground?"


	5. Retrace V: don't Forget if you Die

**Amaranthine**

* * *

**Memory I**

**Shattered Sand**

* * *

**Retrace V**

**don't Forget if you Die**

* * *

The Grovyle leapt like an aerialist through the thick foliage of the Leppa tree, olive cloak fluttering, and landed deftly onto a bough of a Pecha tree, nibbling on the Leppa berry he had just snatched off the tree as he watched curiously a Nidorino atop a Quilava. He tossed the rest of the fruit into his welcoming jaws and squinted at the strange couple, chewing slowly on the tough texture of a Leppa.

The Grovyle had not the faintest idea what they were doing, for the Nidorino seemed to be in a state of wordless ecstasy as he rocked swiftly his body above the Quilava. He winced in disgust when he noticed the drool from the Nidorino's open jaws leak onto the Quilava's scruff. The Nidorino seemed to be hurting the Quilava in any case; her face was furrowed in pain and he could quite clearly hear her strange cries every time the Nidorino rocked over her.

He fell from the tree and channeled his energy into his leaf-blades as they glowed faintly in emerald, then felt his Leaf Blade attack shatter against the skull of the Nidorino as he forced him off the Quilava and ten feet back into the ground.

The Quilava panted in pain, or at least the Grovyle thought it was in pain that she cried (for some reason it might have instead been pleasure), and gazed up at him with jaded eyes, her face near complete scarlet. It occurred to him that she was quite cute for a Quilava, somehow more so when she was panting softly and blushing like that.

"Who are you?"

The Nidorino had risen again, and the Grovyle was thoroughly surprised that the incision on his head that he had earlier inflicted was almost fully gone.

"That should be my line. What the fuck were you doing to her?"

"None of your business." The Nidorino frowned for a moment at the Grovyle, then twitched his lips to the left. "Oh, but you look quite cute there."

Somehow pissed thoroughly that another male had called him cute, the Grovyle leapt at the Nidorino and slashed a Leaf Blade right through his head, the Nidorino managed somehow within the split second to press his four limbs flat to the ground and evade a critical hit. The Leaf Blade sliced right through his horn, the appendage left a stump.

The Nidorino was laughing, but the Grovyle wasn't horrified of his laugh. He was horrified that he was laughing as his stump bled a sickening mixture of pus and blood.

"And plenty strong to boot! Ha! Cut off my horn, would you believe that?" The Nidorino shook like a ragdoll his head, the Grovyle dodged the blood that sprinkled by his feet. "Now I really want you! Oh how sad I'm not really in the appetite for Grovyle right now, so don't you die before that time comes. Promise?"

"What do you want?"

"Oops. No time. Bye bye."

Then all of a sudden the Nidorino sunk into the ground, matter into matter, and the Grovyle could no longer sense his presence. He would have dug for at least five feet the patch of soil if only he wasn't so dead curious about what the Nidorino had done to the Quilava. He turned his attention back to her when he heard her moan, and blushed furiously as he noticed her privates dribbling a mixture of blood and a clear liquid.

"Um … I, uh … are you okay there? I mean you're bleeding, uh … in uh … down there."

"Yeah, I think so." The Quilava blushed and moved her rear away from the Grovyle's view. "My hips are a bit painful, that's all."

"Um … as long as you're okay I'll, uh …"

"Thanks for saving me anyways."

The Grovyle stared speechlessly at the ground, as the Quilava tried to wipe the blood and liquid off on a nearby patch of grass and mask the Nidorino's strange musk by rolling in a puddle of mud.

"Oh, Arceus … I'm gonna get into trouble with mom anyways."

"What's your name?" The Grovyle then blushed as he realized that he had asked a question he hadn't intended to ask, but the Quilava seemed glad that he wanted to know her name, however.

"My name? My name's Hirogane Shi -" The Quilava paused as her ears twitched, then turned apologetically to the Grovyle. "I have to go, my mom's calling. Sorry."

The Grovyle looked as the Quilava ran back down the pavement, her rear now caked in a fresh layer of mud, till she had disappeared into the trees, then smiled to himself. He kicked off the patch of land where the Nidorino had disappeared into the uppermost layer of dirt, picked up his severed horn, and pitched the bleeding thing into the bushes.

_Forgot your horn, you horny dick._

*****

The Quilava licked off the remaining crumbs of omelette, holding the glass plate in her paws, and looking through the clear material at the Lucario in the kitchen with a phone squeezed between her right cheek and shoulder. She had a faint Japanese accent, leaving slightly monotonous her English.

"Shizue, Shiza's come looking for you. Finish your breakfast."

"_Hai_." The Quilava laid with a clatter the plate on the coffee table, then rushed to the door.

"Put on your windbreaker before you go out, it's probably windy out there."

"_Atashi ni wa samukunai wa yo_." Nonetheless the Quilava picked her brown jacket off the coat hanger and pulled it on as she left.

She would meet as she did every other time Shiza underneath the same Yache tree. Their Yache tree. Sure enough, the Sandshrew was already underneath the same tree with its nostalgic blue leaves, swaying even throughout the season when most other trees had their leaves turned crisp hazel.

"Hi Shiza."

"Oh. Hi Shizue."

The Quilava plucked off a nearby Orca tree a scarlet fruit shriveled to the size of an Oran berry, and joined the Sandshrew in her more-fruits-a-day-keep-more-doctors-away routine. The Sandshrew's scales were now dripping with a light yellowish juice, with her habit of peeling clean off a fruit's skin before eating the flesh.

"Eewww, why do you like that wrinkly plum?"

"Why do you like that rocky water balloon?" The Quilava snapped, then bit into the fruit's seedy flesh.

"It's not rocky … more like icy." The Sandslash paused, inspecting her half-skinned fruit. "Or is it crunchy?"

"How is it in Terrano? Is your new house big?"

"No, it's small. I think it's called a … a part … a partment? Daddy says they're like prison cells. But much better." The Sandshrew tossed the peel aside into a small pile of cumulated fruit skins, then jammed the fruit into her mouth. "How's your dad? Has he written any books?"

"I think he has a lot of papers stuffed under his table … but I didn't see any of his book friends lately."

"You know I stole one from daddy's bookshelf, it was called the … Loony Dragon … I think. It was so hard to understand, it was something about the moon and a dragon … and no pictures, you know what I mean?" Shiza seemed however proud that she had managed to figure at least that much of an adult's novel though.

"Oh, that one … dad says that was about a dragon living on the moon." The Quilava finished the Orca fig, then reached up for another.

"Oh … did anything happen this week?"

"Yeah. Yesterday this Nidorino attacked me and um … stuck something into my um … my vagina."

"What's vagina?"

"Mom says that's what adults call their privates."

"Oh … so that bump down daddy's privates was a vagina." The Sandshrew frowned the way a kid who had just heard his parents spout in a single sentence multiple scientific jargon does. "How did it feel?"

"I don't know … it hurt a lot, and it was weird."

"Weird?"

"A good weird. You know it hurts but it feels good at the same time … I don't know but I sorta liked it."

"And then?"

"Then a Grovyle chased him away." The Quilava rubbed gently her privates and murred. "It feels kinda nice."

"Lemme try." The Sandshrew scratched lightly a claw down the outer lips of her privates, then dipped it into her folds, sighing softly. "Feels strange, like jelly. It makes me want more."

"Don't do that. He stuck the thing into me and made me bleed."

"Blood huh?"

The Sandshrew removed from her crotch her paw and picked from over her head another violet berry.

*****

The Quilava yawned and hugged her windbreaker closer to her small body, smiling simply at the trees that loomed far above her head. As she began to run along the beaten path the fusion of hazel and emerald flashed past her peripheral vision, and she inhaled eagerly the fresh crisp scent of bare sapwood. When she had caught sight of the cottage along the flower patches however, it wasn't the usual smell of tomato and olives her mother loved to cook that she had smelled.

No, it was the smell of death.

The Quilava threw open the door, and her eyes shot straight towards the kitchen, where her mother would usually be five in the evening, trying all combinations of sauce and spaghetti bolognese. No, this evening the Lucario was lying on the wooden flooring, beside the kitchen countertop, one arm over her abdomen like a person in his final hour.

The door swung along its hinges and bounced against its frame as the Quilava released the support. Why was she crying? For there was no way her mother would've died, she wouldn't accept that.

"Mom!"

She ran over to the fallen Lucario, pawing her blood-soaked shoulder. The Quilava's eyes were tearing so bad it blurred too much her vision to see clearly the Lucario's once-elegant face with her closed eyes, the red liquid running from beneath her eyelids like teardrops. For a moment she was outside her body, watching the scene like out of a movie; mother bleeding to death on the floor, daughter crying beside her.

_Crying blood, would you believe that?_

"Shizue."

The Lucario's voice was choked and gargled, faint like words drawn out of a dream, but hopeful like the flickering candlelight in a shadowed corridor of doors. The Lucario raised her left arm from her soaked clothes, and placed the wet paw over the Quilava's left eye, drawing to a gentle close her eyelid. The Quilava trembled as blood trickled from the paw into her mouth. Her mother's blood was sweet.

"Mom?"

"Thank Arceus you're here … don't ever tell your dad what I'm going to do to you."

The paw held for a moment, then fell away, leaving a smear of dark red. The Lucario was gone, and she did something before she had died.

She left her daughter a bloody eye.

"Mom! MOM!"

The footsteps down the wooden steps paused, and the Quilava looked up through her half-clear half-scarlet vision at the Typhlosion who had frozen by the foot of the stairs. There was something deadly wrong with the fleeting situation; for the Typhlosion's eyes glowed each a varying hue as he stood in the darkness, and the Quilava had a sudden urge to lunge at her father and rip through his throat his gullet.

The Typhlosion blinked twice his eyes; left iris raven right iris silver, blooding pumping in small spurts from between underneath his eyeballs and his lower eyelids and onto the polished boards. He opened halfway his bloodied lips, like a husband about to confess he had been fucking for the last few years another woman, then sighed.

"Do you want to kill me?"

He walked past the Lucario and the Quilava huddled upon the floor, and thrust aside the hanging door, the demented crimson of nightfall shining into the room of some gothic tragedy.

"Become stronger. Then one day, you will come looking for me."

Then the fine column of light diminished to a resonant darkness.


End file.
